Together with the southern neighbour cities of Ravensburg and Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance (Bodensee), it forms one of 14 medium-sized infrastructural centres in Baden-Württemberg.

The abbey of Weingarten became one of the wealthiest monasteries in southern Germany, owning about 306 km2 of rich estates, before it was confiscated during the secularization following the Reichsdeputationshauptschluß bill in 1803.

During the 19th century several barracks were placed in Altdorf-Weingarten, making the city an important military site; following this in 1911 a young Erwin Rommel was based in the town.

[3] As in neighbouring Ravensburg, a significant engineering industry evolved during the second half of the century, based mainly on the local traditions of (paper and other) mills and textile production.

In 2010 the last four monks abandoned the abbey, the lease was taken over by the Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart which tried to find a new monastic community to install here.

Weingarten was home to the NATO International Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol School through the 1980s and 90s until it moved to Pfullendorf.

In the evening, the Hemedglonkerumzug (from "hemed" = nightgown in local dialect) takes place, so everybody runs through the streets in pyjamas or nightshirts.

Typical carnival characters of Weingarten are the Plätzler (in a red and white costume, first depicted in 1868), the Lauratal ghosts and the Bockstallnarren ("buck stable fools").

The procession of about 3,000 riders and dozens of local music bands leads through the town centre and some surrounding villages to bless houses, farms and fields with a relic of the holy blood of Jesus Christ.